ZEIT TRAVEL AGENCY
User Experience design case study for a fictional time-travel-based travel booking website. One of three final independent study projects for the DesignLab UX Academy program.
Zeit is the first time travel tourism company in the world. The process of booking and traveling is similar to how resorts work, albeit with organized (and secure) trips to nearby cities and attractions, where interaction with locals will be limited. Travelers can select trips based on activities, events, specific time period, or location.
The Problem
Zeit needed to create a responsive e-commerce website to sell time travel tourism packages. My main objective was to make the processes of users booking a trip and Zeit selling the tickets operate efficiently and effectively. Travelers needed to find what trips interested them, learn more about them, and follow through to a purchase decision. It was important to create the clearest way to display trips, categories, and departure / arrival dates.
Market Research
I gathered information about companies offering experiential travel, unique destination booking, and adventure travel to see how they approached booking and selling tickets.
Companies such as GeoEx, Space X, and National Geographic Expeditions provided valuable insight :
Easy to find information on trip safety was hard to find on these sites
The expense of the trips was stated up-front, but often had hidden costs
Detailed information about the trips often included the expected activity level and a detailed itinerary
Support chats and other ways to contact the company were usually available on each page
Interviews
I facilitated interviews with potential customers who participated in luxury and unique travel bookings, so I was able to get a well-rounded understanding of people’s expectations, needs, and frustrations. I asked a series of questions, to 10 different travelers.
Interview Conclusions
Exciting descriptions of destinations and unique experiences make it more likely that customers will book the trips
Self-planning and being able to choose their guide, although sometimes anxiety-inducing, seemed preferred
The availability of some kind of helpful tool to guide customers through the booking process helped reduce anxiety and information overload
Customers were concerned about safety when it came to the trip, even with a guide, and customers considered being able to fit into the environment as part of that safety
Having the option to be in touch with a guide in unique and relatively unexplored locations was often desired, but rarely offered
Easily accessible and in-depth information on the trip, location, and other customers’ experiences were desired
Empathy Map
Next, I studied the audience segment for Zeit customers. Zeit had some of this information on customer demographics, so I combined it with the results of my interview to develop an ideal persona to guide the rest of my process.
Feature Roadmap
The empathy map defined what would be most important for users to feel safe, informed, and empowered to book their trips. Zeit requested I focus purely on the most important core features.
Historical guides and a knowledge base about safety assurances and how trips were approved
Transparent, trustworthy customer reviews section
Trip categorization filtered by budget / activity / place
From front page, 2 to 3 step process to complete booking
Concise visualized explanation of time difference between start date, time period of the trip, and return date
Travel diaries and expert / guide articles
Full ADA / accessibility compliance
Live booking expert tool
Secure transactions / checkout
International currency support
Ability to customize and book trips in a modular fashion
Task flow
The most important task users would perform was the booking of trips and purchasing tickets. I developed a task flow that included how users arrived on the site, how they accessed content, created an account, found their desired results for trips, and finally booked and paid for a trip.
Low Fidelity Wire-Frames
My initial wire-frames focused on the homepage, since that was the first place users would land on the site. The ‘TripFinder Tool’ was to help guide users immediately to finding and exploring their desired trips. Other areas on the homepage emphasized the attractive experiential benefit of trips, and the accessibility to common activities on the trips.
Final Designs
Finalized from my research, I expanded and refined the low fidelity designs into Zeit’s responsive website homepage.
About Me
The intersection of art and technology fascinates me, and I’ve always been a curious and avid learner hungry for new knowledge. Early pixel pushing in Photoshop and basic HTML / CSS laid the foundation for my exploration across diverse disciplines: graphic design, stop-motion animation, video production, no-code web development, UI/UX design, audio engineering, and artificial intelligence research. Each project, big or small, has been a stepping stone, solidifying the rich skillset and knowledge base I carry today.
In 2023 I joined the Software Development Bootcamp at Coding Dojo, and learned how to translate my design ideas into functional applications. This combination of creative problem-solving, insatiable curiosity, and diverse perspectives allows me to collaborate meaningfully and spearhead innovative design solutions.
What truly excites me? Crafting experiences and solutions that resonate with users, empower their endeavors and make a real difference.
PREFERRED TECH
Front-End Development:
HTML5, CSS3 (including frameworks like Bootstrap), JavaScript (ES6+), React/Vue.js, Next.js, PrismicDesign Thinking:
User research, persona development, problem framing, ideation, prototypingUX/UI Design:
Information architecture, wireframing, interaction design, visual designDesign Systems:
Creating and implementing design systems for consistency and efficiencyBranding:
Brand strategy, brand identity development, brand experience designSoftware Tools:
Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Figma, prototyping tools, Git, version controlCollaboration:
Cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder management, communication, presentation skills
SKILLS
Accomplishments
— Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Portland, Oregon
— Certification in UX Design from DesignLab
— Pursued a Master of Business for 1 year at the City University of Seattle
— Full-Stack Software Development Bootcamp at Coding Dojo
— Years of shared experience in Graphic Design, Web Development, UI / UX Design, and Design Consultation